A couple of weeks ago I caught one of International Contemporary Ensemble’s two performances of George Lewis’s ambitious new opera Afterword: The AACM (as) Opera, a challenging piece based on the composer’s 2008 book A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music (University of Chicago). Aside from a few sections in which current members of the AACM such as reedist Douglas Ewart and vocalist Ann Ward improvised, very little of the music resembled the early days of Lewis’s career, which was spawned and inspired by his membership in the organization, beginning in 1971. 

[audio-1] Today’s playlist: